Our Next Feel Good Makeover With Designer/Blogger Shavonda Gardner And Her 4 Awesome Nieces and Nephews

Oh I’m VERY EXCITED. Four kids. Three bedrooms. A full makeover for a military family with a huge dose of holiday cheer. We need this right now, the country needs to celebrate military right now (and always) and Andrea, a single mom who is an Air Force ICU nurse – an essential worker who has been deployed in hospitals since Covid hit – DESERVES to not to have to stress about decorating her kid’s bedrooms right now. Let’s celebrate Veterans Day properly. And perhaps even, (less importantly so) IN STYLE.

First off, I’ve always wanted to do a home for an active vet as their job is HARD, the lifestyle is challenging and their sacrifice to our country and for our safety runs deep. I’m not saying that pedantically, I’ve been known to start the applause at airport terminals for active military when they are invited to board the plane early. That should be a standing ovation every single time. I’ll clap for them forever. A simple THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE is never enough, so a makeover is in order.

Here’s how it went down. In June, Shavonda and I zoomed to talk about the ‘share the mic: home edition‘ initiative (coordinated by the amazing Albie) that we did on Instagram. We are mutual fans of each other so a brainstorm began about how we could collaborate consistently, and a feel good makeover was our goal (because it’s always my goal). If you follow Shavonda (please do, she’s authentic and brave) you’d know that her sister Andrea and her 4 kids just bought a house down the street from her. They were starting over and didn’t have a lot to furnish the space (and she is so busy with working on the front lines + 4 kids, so decorating her house can’t be her priority right now). The timing was pretty perfect and Shavonda and I know how to decorate rooms.

Target has told me to come to them with any Feel Good Makeovers as they would love to support, so I pitched it to them and they said YES immediately because they are wonderful people who also want the world (and families) to feel good. Off we went to design the bedrooms of these beautiful kids together. Thank you, Target – I’m so grateful for this company, always. Now, let’s meet everyone.

Shavonda Gardener is a FORCE. After 6 years in the Air Force, actually. she is now a designer/blogger/content creator with a very engaged Instagram following and a bold, awesome, maximalist aesthetic. Lord knows I love seeing design courage and a fresh approach on the internet and she has it (check out her living room and bathroom) – we need more of this and the world needs more of her.

Her sister, Andrea is, active in the Airforce as an ICU nurse that has had to be deployed nationally for Covid (away from her kids) because hospitals were struggling to help patients and needed more professionals. She is literally on the front lines of this pandemic, keeping people alive and keeping us safe while we quarantine – which is the least we can do. So I want to again say a collective ‘THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE’. These are the people who deserve our love, attention, and service right now. This is how we should be spending our energy. And it felt like a pretty darn great way to spend some of my time. Plus these kids…

Andrea’s family (Shavonda’s niece and nephews) includes 12-year-old Ariyah, 7-year-old Devin, and two twin 3-year-old boys – Isaiah and Jayden. That’s a lot. I have two kids, a live-in partner and I don’t work 12-hour shifts an hour away so I can’t imagine how busy Andrea is (spoiler, her “new neighbor”/sister Shavonda helps a lot). It takes a village. Andrea’s girlfriend, Syphone, is also in the military (Army, stationed in Washington State) and is holding a very cute puppy in that photo. Here they are not holding puppies